Critique of is the smallest choice the smartest choice

In a recent article written by Dwayne he discussed the size and safety of the Smartcar. According to Dwayne the smartcar is simply to small and does not have the safety qualifications to meet his standards. However I somewhat disagree with certain aspects of Dwayne's argument. I had recently spent some time in Europe and when it comes to automobiles they are nothing like Americans. Most cars in the European towns that I visited are relatively small. Most of the drivers there seem to want small cars that could easily maneuver the tight ally ways and streets in most of the old european towns. On the contrast Americans in the past have loved their huge SUVs and gigantic trucks. If the Smartcar wants to make it in America they will have to change up the look and style and safety features of their vehicle, I agree with Dwayne there, but I dont feel that it is as necessary for the Smartcar manufacturers to adjust the vehicle for sales overseas. I feel that the Smartcar could potentially have a lot of success in its current form due to the fact that the car is what consumers are looking for in most European cities.

NetFlix's Actual competition

Speculators once argued that online video players like youtube might be the future competition of movie rental companies like Blockbuster and Netflix. However according to a recent article be Dan Frommer the real risk may be coming from cable television providers like Comcast. Personally I have tried to go the internet route and watch movies through internet sites. Most of the time the movies are of really poor quality, they are constantly interupted by advertisements, or it is simply impossible to find a movie that I would like to watch. Normally whenever I want to watch a movie I simply turn on the t.v. and hit up comcast's on-demand feature. With the click of a button I am instantly supplied with hundreds of movie titles, most of which are new titles, and I am free to watch movies at my own pace (stop pause features), from the comfort of my own home with little to no work. So after reading the article I definately agree with Dan Frommer's evaluation of the furture of NetFlix's current competition. I think NetFlix's biggest rival will be cable television providers.

Critique of Universal Currency

Well finding an article to critique took a bit longer than normal tonight. Not to many caught my eye with the exception of Unique's Blog about Universal Currency. I found this article very interesting and i definitely agree with Unique's stance on doing away with the idea of having a Universal Currency. Considering our current financial situation I feel that we would be at even more of a disadvantage in terms of trade if we used a single currency. Currently, companies can hedge and sometimes receive favorable returns due to currency risk. I think that by changing our current currency system we would put ourselves at a further disadvantage globally.

The new "age" of facebook

I remember being among one of the first, out of my friends, to join the facebook revolution. I was a sophomore in college and the big thing was that you could keep a great connection between friends who may not live close to you. I was also able to keep a photo album documenting my college years. These days it is rare to find a college student, or even a student in general who isn't on facebook. However the trend doesnt simply stop there, According to a recent article by John Sutter of CNN, "older generations are beginning to join the social networking" phenom. According to the article, parents and grandparents first started joining facebook to keep tabs on their kids and their friends, now those parents are starting to use the social tool to network with their friends.

One question that first arises in my mind is how this will effect Facebook's current users. I for one would rather not be "facebook stalked" by my parents. Will this hurt facebook in any way, possibly seeing the younger crowd dissipate in usage on their website. Over the past few years i have gradually limited my usage of facebook. Rather than checking it compulsively every couple hours I may check it once a week. I feel that my crowd of friends have gradually become less dependent on it over time. Will this have an effect on more students my age? I guess time will tell.

Critique: Are people making the crisis a bigger deal than it is?

In a recent post by Anna R., the discussion of whether or not people are making the 'financial' crisis a bigger deal than it is was raised. In the article Anna recites a conversation that she had with a woman in her hair salon over her thoughts about the financial crisis. The woman stated that she disagreed with a Fox News Report about the disparity of our economy. The woman stated that she had felt little impact in her day-to-day routines and she felt that the economy wasn't in as much turmoil as the news proclaims that the world is in. However I disagree with this woman's statements, just like anything I write on here can be considered my opinion, I feel that her opinion may be distorted due to her personal view on the world. Nothing in her life may have changed in the sense that she still has the same clientele and may preform the same daily habits, but the current economic crisis has definitely made quite an impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of lives around the US. I think as time goes on the effects of the financial strain will linger and be more potent. The market crashed roughly 6 months ago. In my opinion it will take a little longer than 6 months for everyone to be individually impacted by financial crisis.

The future of publishing

Currently the process of getting a book published can seem quite daunting. From a publishers view point there can be many risk involved with publishing an unknown writer. The process of printing, distributing and advertising a book can also be quite a financial burden. It is not often that publishers are lucky enough to find writers like J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series. With this being said publishers are quite wary of who they plan to publish because of the likelihood that a book may fail to sell.

In the current day and age of technology many readers are turning towards the internet to receive their literary fix. Newspaper companies can agree that consumers are also starting to turn towards the internet versus reading the old black and whites. As a twenty-something year old I can attest to the fact that I much rather read something off a computer screen then off a piece of paper. I am not sure whether it is the flashy colors and lights of my monitor or the simplicity of using this resource that attracts me to reading documents online.

Authors are also making the realization, that the internet may be the best new way to share their works. Websites like LuLu.com allow authors to publish their books at a low cost. In the case of LuLu the author bares the financial risk in printing as many or as few copies in whatever style they wish to print in. The websites also allows users to sell their books through media streams like Amazon.com. In the current economy, traditional publishing houses are suffering from major cut backs (CNN.com). Currently, I feel that larger publishing companies should look into creating segments in their company that allow writers to create printed material at a very low risk and cost for the publishing company. Currently Lulu business model creates very low risk for the actual business and places most of the risk on the author.

Critique of Dwayne GA 400 Article

Having once lived in the Roswell suburb of Atlanta, I became very acquainted with the tollway along the GA 400 highway. After reading Dwayne's article inciting a removal of the current toll, I began to quickly question some of the statements made in his article.

Having traveled up and down the tollway numerous times I began to notice that the nominal 50 cent fee for traveling the toll booth eventually became a non-factoring element of my daily travel plans. For those who use the highway on a fairly frequent basis the toll often times makes up for the time that could be spent trying to commute to avoid the highway. In Dwayne's blog about the GA 400 tollway he eluded to the fact that the state is currently stockpiling extra money from the tollway. I agree with Dwayne's statement that this extra toll money should go towards building new Georgia roads thus providing more jobs to Georgia's citizens and in effect contributing to the stimulation of our economy by providing new jobs. In the past, President Hoover created projects to help stimulate the economy like the building of the Hoover Dam. Projects like this have proven to effect the economy in a positive way. So like Dwayne said in his blog, the state of Georgia should use the money they are currently stockpiling to help build and fix some of Atlanta's other causeways.

Going Abroad for Medical Treatment

In my Risk Benefits class we have been learning a lot about the current health care system in the United States and the process of choosing work place benefits that may best suite the needs of a companies employees. Some of the interesting topics we discuss include Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Recently we began to discuss the benefits and flaws of having a national health care system, including some topics such as the failure of the Massachusetts' plan for nationalized health care. As i began to search for more information on this topic I found an interesting article about American citizens who have traveled abroad to receive medical treatment. This is becoming more prevalent as healthcare costs steadily increase. I have previously heard of Americans who have traveled to places like Canada, who have a health care plan, but never heard of Americans traveling as far as New Dehli. According to the article I found by Danielle Dellorto , patients from all over the world have been traveling to the operating rooms in places like New Dehli to receive state of the art care at a reduced cost.

What implications may this have on American doctors and patients? Well currently healthcare costs are astronomical in my opinion. It seems that only the rich are capable of receiving adequate care these days. Even the middle class are having to choose between leaving their families bankrupt or paying to receive care that could potentially save their lives here in the states. However their are currently services that excel in providing a service to patients who are looking to receive care out of the United States. The service provides patients with doctors and tour guides who will aid a patient in receiving the care they need. What are the risks involved for the patient? According to the article there may be issues with proper documentation of the surgery or procedures taking place., but if the surgery could save my life I think I would be willing to travel to places like New Dehli to have these procedures preformed. These services make living a much smaller financial burden for those who must choose between life and death. Hopefully these services will make an impact on the current high costs of our healthcare services.

Critique of "The New and Old Army"

In a recent article posted called The New and Old Army posted by Zach Tanner, a 41 year old grandfather, Jorge Gil Muela, enlisted into the US Army to help fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This 41 year old man is being allowed to skip basic training and head directly into war according to the post by Zach. After actually reading the article for myself their were a few statements that I found were a bit misleading. The 41 year old man is gonna be allowed to skip basic training because he was previously enlisted in the military during the Gulf War. He chose to go into the army because the benefits and paycheck were a lot more stable then his current job of appraising houses. Lastly Muela went into the army and is beginning to learn the job skill of cargo handling which he hopes to use as a career when he gets out of the Army by working at Miami International Airport. So unlike Zach's blogs which i found were a bit misleading, the US government is not sending grandparent and elderly to fight on the front lines of the war due to a lack of available personel, the government is in effect stimulating the economy by offering jobs to those who are struggling to get buy and offering them benefits and paychecks that they may not have been able to receive otherwise.

The Music Industry

With these turbulent times amongst us, every industry seems to be effected by the current downfall of our economy. The music industry is no different. Many consumers are holding on to every penny they have. I read an interesting article earlier about how ticketing marketers, like Ticketmaster and LiveNation, are leaving some music makers sour over their high ticket fees. According to Jarrett Belinni of CNN, Bruce "Springsteen himself accused Ticketmaster of in effect 'scalping' the tickets."

Companies like Ticketmaster are able to charge outrageous fees per ticket sold. This is highly discouraging for new start-up or lesser known bands. In some instances, patrons are being charged nearly as much in service fees as they are for the actual ticket. This effects the music makers because consumers are less likely to go out to see a new band play if the tickets are expensive.

Some venues started taking matters into their own hands. Venues like Smiths Old Bar charges people at the door rather then pre-selling tickets through Ticketmaster. Other venues have a mixture of both, where consumer have the option to purchase tickets from Ticketmaster or they offer tickets at the venue which are free of fees. Atlanta's Variety Playhouse offers the dual ticket selling method. In their approach to selling tickets, I feel that they definitely have a competitive advantage over other venues by giving their customers another way to purchase tickets. By hedging the risk of selling tickets through a vendor like Ticketmaster and by selling tickets at their own venue, they can attract customers who enjoy the convenience of Ticketmaster and those who prefer to just buy tickets from the venue. I feel that venues will have to start paying more attention to how the economy may effect concert goers and take into consideration their personally methods of ticket distribution and how they could inevitably hurt their business.

Ski Resort Risk Managment

As I read over Gustav's posts the first one to catch my eye concerned ski lift risk management/ This post definitely caught my eye due to my affection towards snowboarding. It is not uncommon to be at a Ski Resort witnessing someone flailing uncontrollably as they descend hastily down a mountain side with little to no regard to those around them, a lawsuit almost waiting to happen in my opinion.

So what do Ski Resort Managers due to prevent mountain side lawsuits? Well according to Gustav the biggest risk reducer is posting proper signage along their mountain side trails. I agree with what Gustav said regarding signage. According to IMBA, The International Mountain Bikers Association (mountain bikers typically hit the slopes of ski resorts during the non snow covered season), "plaintiffs' attorneys often assert negligence and premises liability theories against the activity providers, in this case the resort. Where releases are involved, resourceful plaintiffs' attorneys will also seek to include gross negligence claims, and even claims of willful and wanton conduct, seeking punitive damages typically not covered by insurance policies." Gustav also mentions the importance of Ski Lift attendent training in his blog about ski risk management. To further evaluate this topic according to the Midwest Ski Area Association,
the two most crucial elements of attendent training involve the ability to spot "unblanced"skiers sitting on the lift(which may lead to the chairs begining to swing because of improper weight distribution) and ability of ski lift attendents to be able to control the crowd of skiers who are waiting to get on the lift, since the majority of lift accidents occur when skiers try to load the lift.
I also agree with Gustav statements about the importance of keeping proper documentation. At most ski resorts their is a release waiver that you sign that is typically located right on many ski lift tickets that warns skiers of the inherent risk of plummeting at high speeds on mountain trails.

I feel that overall Gustavs report was well written since it covered the basis of what ski resort managers must due to prevent risk on their mountain sides, he wrote on very valid arguments. However he could of gone into a sentence or two more depth about how each risk preventative plan related to the risk management of the ski resort. But other than that I feel that we covered what needed to be conveyed to present the basic risks of a ski resort.

The Blockbuster Decline

Over the past few years many of the big home movie rental stores have received stiff competition from online counterparts. Earlier this month Blockbuster announced their plan to hire a consulting team to restructure and perhaps declare bankruptcy, in order to save their massive media service.

Companies like Netflix are capitalizing on the current state of the economy, while sales for walk in stores declined during the rise of gas prices last summers, Netflix has been able to increase the number in their customer base by having DVD delivered through the mail. So what can Blockbuster due to keep themselves in business? Well many of Blockbusters competitors were able to hedge their risk and differentiate themselves by entering a niche market, that Blockbuster has not currently been able to compete with. By renting lesser known, "cult classic" titles, smaller businesses have been able to grasp the indie movie scene. Other stores have also been using gimmicks like having memorabilia available to gander at while perusing their stores.

So what can a company like Blockbuster due to save their store from what seem like a multifaceted attack on all fronts? Does Blockbuster have the infrastructure needed to revamp the way they rent movies to compete with both the online and niche indie segments? Will Blockbuster become the next Hollywood Video? I guess time will tell.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/06/smallbusiness/last_movie_rental_stores.smb/index.htm?postversion=2009030611

Delta slashes more

Delta's CEO and president both announced more job cuts and reduction in the amount of flights offered in an attempt to salvage their company. Delta plans to reduce the frequency of certain flights in certain markets that have had continual low returns. Delta has also recently had 2100 employees opt for an early out or retirement package.

In these turbulent financial times the air line industry has greatly suffered. Since people are refusing to go out and spend money it is hard to get the normal consumer to fly somewhere for vacation. I recently decided to take the 10 hour drive to Miami versus flying because in the end it was cheaper for me to simply spend $60 in gas (hybrid car hehe) versus spending hundreds of dollars on a more expedient flight down to Miami. Decisions like mine have greatly impacted companies like Delta. Delta may be able to hedge against certain risk like fluctuations in gas prices, but it is extremely tough to hedge against risks where people simply don't use your product.

The Sunshine State

I just recently got back from Spring Break in Miami, on the contrary I wasn't so lucky with the Sunshine State. I was only able to bask in the sunlight for 3 of my 10 day-stay in Florida. However energy providers in the Florida have just announced their plan to build the one of the nation's largest solar power plants. According to an article in the Tampa Bay Online, Florida has been long criticized for relying on coal as their source of energy. Tampa Electrics new Solar facililty will help to lessen their reliance on coal but will eventually raise the cost of energy to the consumer. According to Chuck Black, President of Tampa Electric, Solar energy is much more costly to produce than burning coal.

It will be interesting to see how consumers respond to the increased cost of energy for their homes, surely some consumers will be happy about the environmentally friendly mechanic of solar energy but when it starts affecting the consumers bank accounts the reaction toward solar energy may change.

The state of Florida has imposed the need to become more environmentally friendly in the production of energy, maybe the state of Florida should subsidize some of the costs for the consumer. Either way it all comes out of our pockets in one form or another.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/10/na-teco-takes-steps-to-go-solar/news-metro/

Follow Up on the Automobile Industry Post

So while searching through the many articles associated with the auto industry, I found an interesting article that followed up on a previous blog that I had posted about the current state of the auto industry. I had wondered what the government plans to do about bailing out the auto industry and how the government would manage the risk of the Detroit automakers failing even with the help of a bailout.

Politicians can either bail out the auto industry thus saving hundreds of thousands of jobs across the United States (and maybe saving politicians during re-election years) or they can opt to not bail out some of the companies in need of a financial bail out, which may save them some votes from people who want politicians to be a little more stringent on government spending.

So how will politicians make their decision on whether or not to help the auto industry will they base it off their need to get votes for their upcoming elections from those who may be employed by the auto companies or will they decline to bail out those companies in need? I am glad that I don't have to be in there shoes for this decision because no matter what you do somebody will be mad, and either way the economy will suffer its more of a matter of determining which is the lesser evil.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/07/automakers-detroit-gm-business-manufacturing-flint.html

The new Palm Pilot

Back in the mid 1990s, I received my first Palm Pilot. My father worked in the IT business and was always current with the newest model of the Palm Pilot, so I was always lucky enough to get his hand-me-down devices. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the technology, it was a little hand-held computer device that you could use as an agenda, calender or basic minicomputer. It was fully capable of many functions. I had one before I ever bought a cell phone so it was my main way of keeping people's phone numbers.

With all the advances in the cell phone industry the Palm pilot seemed to quickly fizzle out. It just became old technology that the most common cellular phone could easily trump. Well now in the year 2009, the Palm company is scheduled to release a new hand-held device, the Pre.

The Pre will be a device that will be fairly similar to the iphone in function. Currently the Palm organization is having two major problems associated with the release of their product. The first will be their struggle to provide enough phones to match the initial demand of the product, the second will be how to budget the initial marketing program for the release of their product. Palm must figure out if they will be able to finance the capital needed to be able to produce their product and if they can do it before going to deep in the hole.

According to an article in the Dow Jones news wire, "Carriers often won't pay a handset maker back until the phone is sold to a customer, meaning there could be a lag between when Palm pays to make the phone, and when it gets paid for it." This alone could be detrimental to the capital that Palm has on hand. In my opinion, Palm needs a way to hedge against this risk as much as possible. If there is any kind of initial recall on the product after the release, this could single handedly destroy the palm company. The Palm company is banking on the release of their Pre to be a success and save the organization from going under. However " Analysts peg the 1 million unit sale mark as the break-even point" for the product. So if the pre doesn't live up to its expectations, without proper risk management techniques the Palm company could easily go bankrupt.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200903091451DOWJONESDJONLINE000495_FORTUNE5.htm

eBays Falling Stock

Along with many other companies eBay's stock seems to be falling drastically. So what can this online auctioneer do to lower their risk?

I think the first thing they need to do is diversify, through more acquisitions. Currently online auctioneering of people's old "junk" is probably not very profitable since so many people are holding onto every last penny trying to prepare for the thunderstorm of rainy days that seems to be approaching. If no one is spending money it is tough to make any money. So the next question is what to diversify their company into... Unbeknownst to me I recently used both of eBays sister companies; Skype and Paypal. These two companies are a good start for eBay but I feel that they need more to offset the losses they are incurring from their past cash cow. According to an article by Michael Copeland a senior writer for Fortune Magazine, eBay is fairing much worst off then many of its competitors like Amazon (http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/20/technology/ebay_stock.fortune/index.htm).
Copeland also referred to getting away from eBays traditional business of acting as an auctioneer since that seem to bring in the lowest amount of revenue for the online trading business but I feel that would alienate to many of eBays faithful and loyal customers. In my opinion, eBays most profitable avenue may be to increase the functionality of their off shoot program paypal, by purchasing other companies that perform the same function as paypal and in doing so they could set the standard for online purchases.

Free Drinks In Coach?!?

With the rising costs of traveling I feel that it has become difficult for me, as a college student, to even fathom traveling by an airplane. As spring break approaches I forfeited the thought of even buying a plane ticket to Miami and opted to spend the 11 hours in a car over paying the outrageous air line fees. It seems that air lines are finding all sorts of things to charge their customers for, including baggage checking and non-alcoholic drinks. But when is enough, enough?

US Airways, one of the many companies feeling the pain during the financial crisis decided to charge passengers for all types of drinks on their flights. However, during a press conference last Monday, US airways CEO decided that effective on March 1sst they are going back to the old system of free drinks for their passengers.

I feel that this change may be a little to late in saving the face of US airways. The risk associated with making such a vast change probably scarred many long time US airways customers. Their attempt to save money could end up costing them more money in lost customers. I guess we will have to wait to see what happens next quarter to see how US airways cost cutting attempts will effect their future profits. http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/23/news/companies/airline_drinks/index.htm

The Auto Industry

As time goes by here in Atlanta the stories of layoffs and job closings seem to accumulate. However I know that their are cities that are far more worse off than Atlanta. Take Detroit for example, they were once a bustling city of auto makers, but now in these financially troubling times how can a city that relied so heavily on one industry even break even?

It will be interesting to see how the US government will respond to the pleas of companies like GM and Chrystler. These two American companies employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. However if these companies were to fail, what would happen to all those people and the economies they live in. Obviously if these two companies were to fail, the effects would be felt Nationwide, but places like Detroit where almost the entire economy is based off this one industry, will certainly be detrimental. Should the US government help these companies and possibly prevent them from failing or will they just be throwing tax payer money into an unless money pit? On one hand, you could save thousands of jobs and possibly help to stimulate the economy by allowing those who are employed to have a positive money stream. However the risk of helping these companies that seem to be failing regardless of their numerous attempts to cut costs, seem a bit to great for me to endorse. I am sorry but we are a part of a market system where the strongest companies survive. Even if we do bail out some of these auto companies, if these companies fail at adapting to the current market conditions then they will continue to fail well into the future. I hate that so many people may lose their job, but the management should have been producing products that would have been more suitable for the market. If you were a manager at a company still attempting to sell gas guzzling SUVs, within the past 5 years I have a feeling that the you and the other managers of your company failed to look around and analyze the current market. http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/23/news/companies/federal_auto_options/index.htm?postversion=2009022317

Ipods Risky?

I remember when I was in elementary school and CDs first came out, I thought, how could they make something that will beat a CD player? Now, in my final semester of college I have realized that there is a growing trend and accessory on almost every college student regardless of nationality or upbringing. IPODS!!! I am guilty of having my own 30g iPod, jam packed with music and movies. Apple seems to be fully capable of running a monopoly on the portable music and video industry, especially with all the functionality in todays iPods from being able to make phone calls to checking your email or the latest stocks. With so many people using this device, I for one would like to know if there are any longterm risks to using iPods? Hell, if I can get cancer from microwaving a sandwich for thirty seconds, is it far fetched to think that I could get cancer from jamming to my iPod which can play for hours on end without the batteries dieing?

Well I spent some time looking for the risks associated with iPods and I found an interesting article about the current "younger" generation and their usage of iPods and the risk associated with using the factory ear buds that apple sells with their iPods (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1881130,00.html?cnn=yes). I would like to hope that Apple has begun to hedge against risks that may be associated with long-term hearing loss. This could potentially be a catastrophic loss for Apple in the future if they fail to protect themselves from possible lawsuits.

Fords Electric Van...

Well the Ford company is planning on releasing a new electric van that will be marketed toward small business owners. This concept provides a lot of opportunities to the largest segement of businesses which happen to be small businesses. Its suprising to think that small businesses cover such a large portion of the business makeup. Obviously an electric vehicle has many benefits both enviromentally and financially, but how practical will it be?

This is probably an attempt by the Ford company to make up for their relatively limited amount of alternative energy vehicles. It might be a risky business venture to release a vehicle of this type so late in the "alternative energy" game. it would be interesting to see how much Research and Development Ford put into this vehicle and if it will really payoff well. There is obviously a lot of risk involved in releasing such a new concept in an unfriendly market. Will small business owners have the capital to pay for such a vehicle and will Ford make back its R&D money in such a concept vehicle. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Here is some info on the new Ford Van...http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/09/autos/ford_electric_van/index.htm?postversion=2009020914

The Lowes Plan

Lowes has recently announced their plan to "clawback." According to Parija Kavilanz a senior writer for CNN.money, Lowes "board [of directors] can seek to take back compensation based on merit if it determines that an executive engaged in fraud or intentional misconduct that caused or substantially caused a significant restatement of the company's financial results."

This is a great way for Lowe's to protect themselves from over compensating as we have recently seen so often. Hopefully this is a proactive stance that the board has elected to take rather than a retroactive warning to any past executives.

Salary Freezes

Recently my girlfriend and I have been discussing the policies that our employers have presented to us in wake of the current financial decline. We both work for country clubs in the Atlanta area. The club I worked for has decided to fire a few of the executives and maintain the employees that are seen as "the face" of our club, anyone who comes in direct contact with members, due to the fact that management sees these employees as vital to the way we do business. On the other hand, my girlfriends club has decided to enact a policy to reduce the bonuses received by employees in an attempt to ensure all the employees that they will have a dependable job that provides all of their employees a steady paycheck.

My first question for my girlfriend was, "how did the employees respond to no bonuses?" She simply said that many people were just happy to have a job and they realized the severity of our current economy. As a risk management student, I wondered which strategy would be more risk adverse. On the one hand, you may fire a few employees but be able to retain the status quo of the office environment or you could keep everyone and just reduce everyone's bonuses. I kind of prefer what my girlfriends club did by freezing all the employee salaries, because it provides security but at the same time when i received my Christmas bonus i definatly did my part to stimulate the economy, because the first thing i did was go out and spend the money I received.

So after further looking into this topic I found a news article about executives freezing their compensation... http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/09/news/economy/salary_freeze/index.htm?postversion=2009020914 I think its repulsive that executives of recieved the amount of benefits that they recieved in 2008 after their corporate profits tumbled. I understand the need to be well off and wanting to live a healthy comfortable life but honestly 18.4 billion in bonuses is just over the top... I doubt i could spend that much money on myself in the course of a lifetime.

Regions Bank... Risk adverse?

I have been a Regions bank customer for nearly a decade now. I first opened my own account to yield some returns off of my saving account. Little did I know how profitless I would be with only $200 in my account. However recently Regions bank invested some of their own money into FirstBank Financial of McDonough, Ga. Regions made this purchase last Friday after FirstBank failed.

There is some discussion by market analyst whether or not it is a good idea to let banks like Regions acquire failing banks. This is the second bank that Regions has bought, in the last year. According to consensus estimates, analysts predicted that Regions "is expected to lose $705.8 million this year" (LaMonica).

This does leave me quite troubled and perplexed. The first thing i ask myself is if this may be some sort of last ditch effort to try to receive a big payoff on a risky investment. The FDIC cliams that they would not allow risky banks to purchase failing banks, but how long will banks like regions continue to be able to buy failing banks? Currently regions shares increased by 12%, I however feel that this will be a short lived success. I think if banks are predicted to lose as much money as analyst say, the FDIC should step in before banks are able to make such risky investments, like buying a failed bank.

(LaMonica)
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/09/markets/thebuzz/index.htm?postversion=2009020913

More Layoffs

So in recent news employees from Macy's Atlanta office were recently layed off effecting nearly 800 employees including many executives. I think it is becoming rare to find anyone who has not been recently effected by a layoff of some sort. Personally, I work at Ansley Golf Club and have seen 4 fellow co-workers layed off due to the financial bleakness of the future. The 'upper management' claimed to refrain from laying off anyone that would be seen as "front line employees" or those who directly interact with our members on a day-to-day basis. But how long will my job be safe? Was there nothing we could have done to stop this financial decline? If AIG would have hedges some of the risks in financing the housing market, would we still be where we are today? Im curious to find out what other factors have lead to the current decline or if it was simply a domino effect of failing checks and balances...

My thoughts about AIG

Well it is easy to sit and debate the merits of past decisions; the real trial will be to see what AIG will do to move on from their faulty investment decisions. I think insurance companies should put more money inWell it is easy to sit and debate the merits of past decisions; the real trial will be to see what AIG will do to move on from their faulty investment decisions. I think insurance companies should put more money into research and development to find possible avenues that may be more profitable investments. Insurance companies need to find better, more innovative ways to keep their companies solvent.to research and development to find possible avenues that may be more profitable investments. Insurance companies need to find better, more innovative ways to keep their companies solvent. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94700734